Kiki’s excited trill comes from behind me, and I turn to see her pointing animatedly at me. “That’s her!”
In front of me are three women: a thin,almostmodel-typewiththickwavy black hair, a shorter, more petite woman with similar haircut to her shoulders, and the lady still wearing the Macaulay Culkin face, only her mouth is now closed.
The woman in the middle with the short, dark hair takes a tentative step toward me. “Hello. Are you Kennedy?”
I nod as Icontinueto absorb the scene unfolding before me.I’mback in the cafe, only I have a bigger audience. Iturnto Kiki. “How long was I gone?”
The cafe owner glances at the clock on the wall. “About twenty minutes, I’d say.”
The newcomers are staring vexedly, waiting for me to make a move. “Are you the witches?” I ask them.
The one who greeted me takes a shy step back while the other two awkwardly raise their hands. “We are,” thetall oneadmits.
I rush to her and take her hands, elated thatI’mstill able to touch someone, but she pullsa face. She clearlyisn’tthe physical affection type, but Ican’thelp myself.
“If I disappear again, I need you to perform a seance,” I tell her, exasperated. “Right now, Ican’tstay in one place more than a few minutes at a time, but you should be able to ground me. Can you help?”
Her eyes narrow as she frowns. “How do you know so much about witches?”
Ididn’texpect to have to divulge so much about myself so soon, but I guessthere’sno better time than the present. Especially if I want their help.
Letting go of the striking woman’s hands, I take a deep breath. “My childhood friend. Her mother was a witch.”
She and the others exchange expressions I can’t decipher—they’re either intrigued or confused.
Again, the short-haired woman is the one to speak up. “I don’t mean to pry, but did you ever live in Shadow Hills?”
I frown.“It’swhere I grew up. We moved away when I was twelve.”
It’s a memory I don’t like reflecting on, but paranormal towns are rare, so they probably would have put it together eventually.
The other woman relaxes, and I see sympathy in her eyes. “We can help you.”
I give her a slow smile and release a heavy sigh. “Thank you…”
“It’s Calliope,” she says, finally providing her name. She then addresses the second witch. “This will be a good lesson for you, Simone. Communicating with spirits who are either lost ordon’twish to remain on our plane is a difficult practice, but useful.”
“Clearly,” Simone jokes, gesturing toward me.
“What do we do first?” I ask, eager to get started. The sooner these witches perform whatever spell necessary to hold me here, the sooner I can stop feeling like the floor is about to give out from under me.
Calliope fumbles for an answer as she bites her bottom lip. “Given that you’re actually here, I’m not sure.”
My heart sinks. “What does that mean?”
Simone looks just as curious.
Calliope’s voice raises an octave, as if trying to reassure me that she knows whatshe’sdoing. “I know the spell to anchor a spirit,” she starts, “the thing is, it’s part of a summoning spell, and without the summoning part, I’m not sure how to perform it.”
“Can’t you look it up?” the other woman asks. So far, she seems to be the most sensible of the group, andI’mgrateful for her willingness to ask all the right questions.
“Umm, yeah.” Calliope pulls out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and begins searching. “Let me just…there should be a digital copy of the handbook somewhere to download…but maybe, no that’s not it…”
As she continues mumbling to herself, myfavorite of thegroup finally introduces herself. “I’m Raegan, by the way.” She gives me a comforting smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”
I dip my head in thanks, but I can’t bring myself to say anything.
Simone is watching Calliope frantically continue scrolling, but after a few minutes she turns to Raegan. “Can’t we just ask your mom?”
